Otis Redding

I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)

Otis Redding

I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)

Life on the road had its advantages. An artist never knew who he might be sharing a bill with, or what creativity might transpire after the gig was through. One of Otis Redding's most spectacular ballads was the result of a chance encounter with velvet-smooth Chicago soul singer Jerry Butler, who boasted a string of hits (He Will Break Your Heart, Moon River, Make It Easy On Yourself) on Vee-Jay Records.

"I was going to Buffalo, New York, to play a date," says The Ice Man. "I changed planes in Atlanta, and Otis got on the plane. And we found that we were both working in the same place on the same night. When we checked in the hotel, we found we had adjoining rooms. After the show that night, we were sitting around, messin' around with the guitar and talking about things. He was showing me some songs that he had been working on that he hadn't completed, and I showed him 'I've Been Loving You Too Long,' which I had been working on and hadn't completed. And he fell in love with it. And he said, 'Let's try and finish it!' So we started messing with it and finished it. And he took it back to Memphis and recorded it."

I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) was a ballad masterpiece, built around an unusual chord progression and benefiting from immaculate backing by Booker T. & The MG's and Stax/Volt's in-house horn section anchored by trumpeter Wayne Jackson and tenor saxist Andrew Love, whose dramatic lines build beautifully behind the Big O. The song rocketed to #2 R&B and #21 pop, easily Redding's biggest hit yet. Encoring a few months later with the piledriving Respect and capping off the year with a thundering I Can't Turn You Loose, Otis was rapidly taking his exalted place as one of the most dynamic soul men on the planet.

"I don't think you'll ever find anybody that ever worked at Stax, or went in there, or especially any of the musicians that played on any of those records, that didn't say that Otis wasn't their favorite artist," says MG's guitarist Steve Cropper, Otis's frequent collaborator. "They couldn't wait for him to come back and record. 'Cause it was so much fun, and we just seemed to get so much accomplished in a short time."